No love for the fans from the FA

It's jam butties for FA Cup Final day as the FA announce ticket details for the biggest game in our history.

The first piece of bad news from English football's governing body was the kick off time of 17:15 With only one game in the top four divisions being played on the same day the decision to schedule the kick off for early evening is purely to help Wembley pay for itself.

Television money will come pouring in from ITV and ESPN who will no doubt prefer the later kick off but this is for the benefit of the arm chair fans and at the detriment of the 80,000 fans expected to travel. Further bad news came by way of Virgin Trains who have announced that there will be one train leaving after the expected final whistle, but if the game goes to extra time supporters will be screwed. A return price from Wigan is around £150.

Now the FA have kindly informed supporters that the cheapest tickets will be £45 with the average price at £85 and top ordinary seats priced at £115.

Football is a fantastic game and its popularity is largely based upon the excitement of games and ease to get involved in. Across the world people play football in the most poor societies as the only equipment needed is a ball and two jumpers.

Back in the days when I first started to support Wigan Athletic it was always a dream to see them play in the top flight and maybe even an FA Cup Final. The realisation of that dream is very different with ticket prices now becoming extortionate.

One would have hoped that the governing body of the sport would offer reasonable prices but it is the exact opposite as the struggling association have to fight for every penny to pay for the new national stadium.

The dream of seeing the Latics in an FA Cup Final will have been ruined for many who will simply not be able to afford a ticket to see their club.

Call me cynical but a large part of me wishes all City and Latics fans abstain from attending the game and instead spend the ticket, travel, food, and beer money on nice new televisions to sit at home and watch.

How long will football be the spectacle it is today if there are no supporters inside the stadium?